Disillusion's Glow

There was a time and a place for feelings, and right now, this wasn't it. Emotions killed people.

But people were dying, had died and were going to die.

'You can't do this.'

She couldn't think of anything else to say.

There was no longer a light in those eyes; what blazing fire had been there was gone, just like the light Emmeline's eyes when Fabian had given her back her husband's wedding ring. Just like the light had gone from Molly Weasley's eyes when Caradoc had gone to give her the news of her brother's deaths. Just like the light had gone from Marlene's eyes when she finally realised that Caradoc wasn't ever coming home.

There was realisation coming; Gideon had known and he had spoken out, but he hadn't had time to say what he truly thought, what he knew was happening. Fabian had known it, of course he had, but he wasn't the kind to voice it. Maybe even Caradoc had; maybe that was why he had gone. Maybe they all knew and no one was going to say it; because then it would be true.

They were all beginning to understand what they did not want to know; they were no longer fighting for the rights of Muggles and Muggleborns; they were no longer fighting for peace and justice and hope. They were simply fighting for their lives.

And today there was one less life to be lost.

For the man opposite them, that life was the end. It was the end of him. It was the end of his family. And tonight the Order of the Phoenix would have one less member, one who would never be spoken of again, because there was no middle ground; not anymore.

He had believed in everything they stood for, despite his family's connections; he had stood with them countless times, but now, today was too much.

The worst thing was; Lily could understand it and from the way James tightened his grip on the wand in his pocket, she knew he understood too. He knew what was coming and he knew what had to be done.

'Do you think that they thought that?' The voice was quiet; full of grief and anger and fear, but soft, so soft, 'Do you think that they thought a teenage girl could murder those people?'

Today it had been a family of five; a mother, a father, two little girls and an old man still in his armchair. All of them had been tortured; Dumbledore had said that they killed the old man last, they didn't need to use the Cruciatus Curse on him after what he had been forced to watch.

'Obviously.'

Lily turned, astounded that, even now, Alastor Moody could be so cruel.

'Look at Regulus Black, look at Jugson and Wilkes and Avery. Look at yourselves; you're barely out of your teens. You're not the only ones who are scared.'

A girl had been the first to arrive to try and help, a teenage girl.

Only the Aurors had arrived just after her and they hadn't waited to ask questions.

That was all that needed to be said; a shutter came down behind those eyes, between them and him. It was obvious to Lily then; the man in front of them was no longer of the Order of the Phoenix.

'Those men were trained.'

Moody's replies only became crueller, 'I trained them.'

Rage was building behind those grey eyes.

'That's enough!'

Lily was surprised the voice she heard wasn't her own. It was James'.

The man in front of them merely shrugged, 'You all know it's too late; I can see it in your eyes.'

'You do this,' James began, but his voice cracked and he had to start again, 'You do this, and you won't be my cousin anymore. You do this, and I'll kill you.'

Tears were coursing down his face.

The man gave them a sad smile and said, almost apologetically, 'She was my sister.'

Then Evan Rosier was gone.

'You know I'm not going to come quietly.'

It was just the two of them; the chase had rid them of everyone else. It was them and the rain and the darkness and the memories.

'What makes you think I want to arrest you, boy?'

Something in those grey eyes shone, but it wasn't fear.

He may not have been one Voldemort's most zealous supporters, but he had betrayed everything that Alastor Moody had stood for, and that made him worse than any of the scum who were rotting in Azkaban.

No, James and Lily Potter weren't here this time. They too had fallen at the last.

No, this was never going to be an arrest.

They drew their wands and began.

"Took a bit of me with him though." – Alastor Moody, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix